


Like the Wind Through the Trees

by Aquila_Star



Series: Powers of Persuasion [18]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, I don't care if she's not Tolkien, I totally love them, Kili is eloquent and awestruck, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-06
Updated: 2016-05-06
Packaged: 2018-06-06 16:41:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,206
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6761965
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aquila_Star/pseuds/Aquila_Star
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He must be dead. He was dying, wasn't he? He was dying and then he saw her, and she was the most beautiful, amazing thing he'd ever seen. If this was the afterlife, he would take it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Like the Wind Through the Trees

Kili woke up slowly, his head full of fog and his limbs heavy, although it was not the same crushing weight as it had been before. It was not the poison dragging him down, but simple exhaustion. He tried to open his eyes but they were as heavy as his limbs, so he gave up the attempt, trying instead to hear what was going on around him. 

This must be what being dead felt like. Under mountain, under stone and all that. And yet, if he was dead, how could he feel him limbs, of hear murmured voices form somewhere near, two people speaking quietly, and he recognized those voices. 

One was strikingly familiar, like a well worn shirt or a task so routine that you didn't even have to think about it. It was the deeper of the two, and smooth, filled with memory and emotion. 

It was Fili, of course, Kili knew that immediately. No one else fit beside him that well, no one else was that comfortable. 

But the other. It was also familiar, but its flavour was fresher, newer. The voice was softer, low and yet inherently female. It was green and fresh like rain dripping from the leaves of the trees, like mist on the grass. Then he remembered the dream, the vision he'd only thought that his darkened eyes had brought forth from his feverish brain.

Tauriel. 

He had seen her there, slipping into Bard's house like a death omen, an omen not for him but for the Orcs. She had slain them all smoothly, each movement graceful, flowing like water from the one before. She was as beautiful as the stars, as flowing as the wind between the trees. 

All of the nature references where unsettling. He was not an Elf. He was a Dwarf, and yet, there was no metaphor for stone in mountain halls that would do her justice. She was free, she could not be contained within his world. 

He must be alive. Why would Fili and Tauriel be talking in the afterlife?

But how was he alive? He had felt his life flowing away, the fire that had sustained his being had been ebbing, fading along with his strength and his warmth. Then the vision came back to him in an instant and he remembered, she had been joined by the other Elf, the blond one, who had helped her to kill all the Orcs and then left, calling Tauriel to follow. 

And yet, she had not. She hadn't left, she had stayed. Then there had been a searing heat burning through his leg, slipping into his blood and burning away all the poison. Tauriel had been glowing, her words flowing akin to her movements, graceful and free like running water, and Kili was fast using up all the words he knew to describe her. She was so far beyond him.

He remembered saying something like that, something far more poetic in speech that it had been in his mind. He remembered asking if she could have loved him, and he knew now that it had been real. Perhaps he should be mortified by his fever driven words, but he was not. Everything had changed when he had first seen her, his life had halted in an instant and turned, rushing swiftly down a new path, one he could not have foreseen, a brighter, more vibrant one. It glowed with the same light that was in her countenance. 

He had reached out for her and although she had not said a word in response to his whispered plea, she had taken his hand, her long, slim fingers entwining with his shorter, thicker ones. That was all he remembered before awakening and now he knew that he was awake, not dead, though the voices has silenced. He blinked his eyes open, the low light of the room harsh on his aching eyes. 

“Shh, rest,” a voice said, Tauriel's voice. He felt a cool cloth swipe over his forehead and across his cheeks, moistening his lips before moving past them and over his neck. He felt cool and hot at once, though he suspected the flush of heat had more to do with her nearness, with her touch, than any remnant of the fever. 

Soon the cloth left him, but her hand had slipped into his, and that was even better. 

“Tauriel?” he whispered, his voice little more than a croak, blinking again to clear his eyes, her shape coming into clear focus at last. 

“Don't strain yourself,” she scolded, though her voice held only warmth. She brought a cup of water to his lips and helped him lean up to drink it. 

He looked at her in amazement, he could still hardly believe that she was there. Her beautiful face was lined with worry, and regret for her distress warred with ecstatic joy at her presence. 

“You are not a dream,” he said, his lips curling in a smile.

“No indeed,” she agreed. “And you are very much alive, but the grace of the Valar.”

“You saved me,” he stated, attempting to push himself into a seating position. She helped, propping pillows behind him, her hair brushing her arms, and her scent surrounding him, flashes of water and air and green, growing things. “Why?”

“Because I could,” she replied, her cool fingers gripping his once more. He knew that there was more behind her simple statement, so he waited, patient perhaps for the first time in his life. 

“And because I could not bear the thought of your death,” she continued at last, “knowing that I was able to prevent it.”

“I am grateful beyond the ability of words to express,” he said, thrilling in the sight of her blush. 

“Your words are far more lovely that I had imagined they would be,” she said, eyes still on their joined hands. “I had not looked to find such eloquence among the Gonnhirrim.”

“We are not, in general, much for words,” he informed her. “But we are lovers of beauty in any form, and when we see beauty beyond measure, we can be moved to poetry.”

“Please,” she deferred, her gaze dropping. “ I am hardly bea...”

He cut her off, a hand cupping her cheek and lifting her gaze to his once more. Her skin was softer than any fleece he had ever felt, smooth and clear. 

“Do not speak so unfairly of yourself,” he insisted. “You are fair above the wonders of the world. Your face and form are lovely, it is true, but it is the fire within you that inflames my heart.”

“Kili,” she protested, averting her gaze once more, as though his regard was too heavy a burden to bear.

“I understand that I must be ugly in your eyes, harsh and blunt, but to me, you are more lovely than all the sights my eyes have yet taken in, combined.” Kili knew his heart was well and truly hers, had felt it surge when she had healed him, had suspected it in the prison cell, had felt its flutterings when she had rescued him in the forest. She was One, his only One. There was no going back for him, no matter the outcome. 

The fact that she was still beside him, that she held his hand and sat close, speaking quiet and earnestly to him, these things gave his heart a hope that was almost too brilliant to contain. 

“No, you are not...” she began, her gaze meeting his once more. She looked dismayed, and took in a deep breath.

“While you are stunted in the eyes of my kin, ungraceful by all the standards I have been trained to expect, I found myself drawn to you nonetheless.” Her eyes were bright and bold, and her words filled him with an emotion that he could not describe, it was too vast for his meagre words. 

“You are strong of body and fierce of spirit,” she continued. “Your skill with the bow, your assertions of which I have since had confirmed by your brother, speak of a diligence and dedication that I would have thought beyond you, and yet, Fili spoke further of your craft, of the beads you made for him, that he bears in his braids. The fine detail and intricate rune work tell me much of the deftness of your fingers, and the artistry in your heart.”

It was Kili's turn to blush at the ample praise. 

“And yet, it is not those things that have drawn me even closer to you, you ridiculous Dwarf,” she remarked with a smile that lit every part of Kili's soul in a burst of glowing starlight. 

“What then?” he asked. “Surely it was not my jest when you led me to my cell.”

She laughed, the sound like the whistle of the wind through the forest, and he was utterly enchanted.

“No, though your bold humour does you credit.” Her eyes dropped to where she held his hand in hers, the other now tracing the shapes of his fingers, the gesture strangely intimate.

“It was your eyes,” she said, lifting hers to meet them. “I had never seen a pair so kind, so filled with life and humour and pureness of spirit. Also your voice, all I had found in your eyes was reflected there, and I found it quite alluring.”

“Alluring, eh?” he said with a smirk, unafraid to be bold with her now that she had proclaimed herself so plainly. He was exhilarated. He could have climbed the mountain in a dozens steps, had his body been fuelled with the bliss in his heart. 

“I would not have said so if I did not mean it.”

“Good,” he said. “I would hate to be in this alone.”

“Whatever may come in the future, I'm not certain. Perhaps we will not be able to...be together. But know that you are not in this alone.”

He smiled, unable to keep the joy from his face. She was the loveliest creature he had ever laid eyes on, she was highly skilled, kind, intelligent and funny. She was devoted and talented and absolutely perfect for him. The hardest part may be convincing his Uncle of that, but then again, the way Thorin had taken to Bilbo...well, half Kili's work was already done for him. Thank Mahal for that. 

She smiled back, their eyes catching and holding, filling the air between them with a tension that Kili had never experienced before. It was tense, yes, but it was comfortable, too. However, this was not the time and place, so before long they both turned away, chuckling awkwardly. He glanced around the room, finding that Oin had draped himself over the couch and was snoring softly, while Bofur was sprawled across the floor, sleeping just as soundly. 

Bard's children must be in the only other room, no doubt their bedroom, but there was still someone missing. 

“Where is Fili?” he asked, frowning. “I could have sworn I heard him when I woke up.”

“He is outside, on the balcony,” Tauriel informed him, gesturing toward the door behind her. “Apparently teaching young Sigrid how to smoke a pipe, if I'm hearing correctly.”

“Really? That stinker. He wouldn't even teach me!” He chuckled, and Tauriel did as well. 

“Is that not the job of the older brother, to be a bad influence?”

“Perhaps many , but not Fili,” Kili said, leaning back, still holding Tauriel's hand and wondering how long he could get away with it. “He's always been far too responsible. He takes the whole 'heir to the throne' thing very seriously. In fact, I was the one who was always getting him into trouble, though he often took the blame when we were discovered.”

“He is clearly devoted to you,” Tauriel commented, earning a bright grin from Kili. 

“He is. I'm the luckiest Dwarf on Middle Earth, to have a brother like him. I'd do anything for him.”

“You make having a sibling sound wonderful,” she said, looking down sadly. “I have always wondered what it would be like.”

“You are an only child, then?”

“Yes. My parents died when I was very young, so Thranduil took me in and raised me as his ward. Legolas is like a brother to me, but I always knew that I was different. I am a Silvan Elf, and Legolas is the King's son.”

“A Silvan Elf? And Thranduil is Sindarin, yes?”

“Indeed. They are generally considered of a more advanced and honourable ancestry, whereas Silvan Elves like myself are lesser. The Noldor like the Lady Galadriel are the most powerful and wisest of all.”

“So, like the different clans of the Khazad? We are of the line of Durin, of the Longbeard clan, we are considered the most powerful and influential of all the Seven Kingdoms. Not that it made a damn bit of difference to the others when Thorin asked for aid on this quest.”

“None of the others aided you?” Tauriel looked surprised. 

“Not a one. There's a reason our Company numbers but thirteen.”

“And the Hobbit? How did he come to join you?”

“Gandalf found him for us,” Kili said. “He wasn't going to come at first, but he did, which was a great turn of fortune for us, as it turned out. We would have died more than once if he hadn't.”

“Indeed?”

“Oh, yeah. Bilbo is amazing. We're all very fond of him, especially Uncle.” Kili couldn't help a smirk, thinking of what the Company had to endure with regards to Thorin and Bilbo during the course of their journey.

“He's found favour with the King?” Tauriel asked, genuinely interested, and luckily for Kili, showing no signs of wanting to let go of his hand. 

“Oh, more than favour. Thorin is madly in love with him, though you didn't hear it from me. It's common knowledge among the Company. It was kind of hard to miss, they certainly didn't hold back.”

Tauriel watched him thoughtfully, he head tilted to the side, and it struck Kili again just how beautiful she was. His mind flashed back to the first time he had seen her, how she dispatched the spiders with grace and confidence, one movement as efficient as the next. Finally she spoke, her voice pulling Kili back to the present. 

“A few short days ago I would have wondered what might have pulled Thorin toward someone so much smaller than him, and a commoner at that. I was raised to believe that such things did not happen. And yet, here I am.”

“And where is here?” Kili asked, sensing that there was something more behind her words.

“Here is in the company of one much smaller of stature than I, and therefore, according to the customs of my people, lesser as well. And yet, it is you who are royalty, and I who am of common birth. I am learning that many of the things I was taught are not as true as I had been led to believe.”

Kili nodded, tugging Tauriel's hand toward him, kissing her knuckles gently. 

“And I was taught that all Elves were faithless, devious and not to be trusted,” he admitted. “And although I can't say that your King has impressed me otherwise, you are nothing like that. Even your friend Legolas seems better than that, and the Elves of Rivendell were exceptionally polite and accommodating. We repaid their hospitality rather poorly, I'm ashamed to say.”

Tauriel appeared about to speak, but what she might have said he would never discover, as the balcony door opened, and Bard's eldest daughter slipped inside, a wave of icy air sweeping through the room. She looked warm though, as Fili's fur coat was wrapped around her shoulders. It was quite short on her, but the shoulders were wide and the fur must have been ticking her jaw something fierce. Kili never wore fur, for just that reason. He could not help but gape at her as she turned, a happy smile on her face as she watched Fili slip in after her and close the door.

“You're awake!” Fili exclaimed when he saw Kili sitting up. “Excellent.” He beamed widely and Kili smiled back, just as happy to see his brother. For a while there he had wondered if he would meet his end in a tiny house in Laketown, only steps away from Erebor. The thought of leaving Fili was almost as bad as the thought of dying at all. He hoped that he'd never have to face such an event, for a very long stretch of years. 

Fili looked away, smiling softly at Sigrid as she smiled back, both of them paused in a moment that had Kili's mind spinning. He had been in such a moment not long before, and knew exactly what it meant. 

“Oh, here,” Sigrid said, slipping Fili's coat off her shoulders and passing it back to him. “Thank you.”

“You are very welcome,” Fili replied, grinning brightly, clutching the coat in his hands. She stared at him, wide eyed, for another long moment and then turned away, calling good night to all of them as she slipped across the room, stepping carefully over Bofur before slipping through the door to the room that she shared with her siblings. 

“What was that?” Kili asked his brother, who flushed before coughing and moving further into the room, settling down on a bench under the window.

“Nothing at all, little brother,” Fili said, though he must know that he wasn't fooling Kili one bit. They knew each other far too well for that. 

“I'll get it out of you,” Kili insisted, but Fili was spread across the bench now, covered to the chin in his coat. He grunted a non answer and then proceeded to ignore Kili. Very rude, considering how near to death he had been only hours before. The danger had well and truly passed, if Fili was treating him normally again, instead of acting like he was made of glass. 

“It's time for you to sleep as well,” Tauriel insisted, slipping a pillow out from under him and helping him to lie down. “I'll check your wound in the morning, though I'm sure it is healing quickly now.”

“Tauriel,” he said, reaching out for her hand before she slipped away. “Thank you.”

“You are most welcome, Kili,” she replied, smiling sweetly before leaving him, slipping out the door that Sigrid and Fili had just entered, no doubt to keep watch over all of them until the sunrise. Kili smiled to himself, remembering the soft cadence of her voice and the strength in her hand. He thought of the way she'd glowed while she'd healed him, and whispered his thanks to Mahal for bringing her into his life. Truly, he did not deserve such a blessing, but Kili was a selfish Dwarf and he fully intended to grab hold onto what was growing between them and hold on for all he could. 

Nothing in his life was certain except for this. He would love Tauriel, every day for the rest of his life, however long or short that life may prove to be.

**Author's Note:**

> Annnnd, Kili's chapter! We had to have Kili/Tauriel, yes? I'm glad I wrote these chapters earlier, because the next chapter is proving harder to write. It's coming along, I should have it ready tomorrow or Saturday. It's all nitty gritty now, and nitty gritty is harder to write. 
> 
> Let me know what you think!


End file.
